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January 07, 2005
Midseason Debuts Improve Forecast For Wobbly NBC
By Andrew Wallenstein
Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There just might be some life left in NBC's primetime schedule, after all.
After a sluggish start to the fall season, NBC posted modest improvements in several troubled time slots in the opening week of 2005. Three new series bested their time slots' woeful season-to-date averages in the 18-49 demographic, and struggling veteran "Law & Order" managed to top its new tormentor on Wednesdays at 10 p.m., "CSI: NY."
No one is declaring a comeback just yet, but Mitch Metcalf, executive vp program planning and scheduling at NBC, likes what he sees.
"We've been really pleased with the way the shows have rolled out," he said. "It feels like a second premiere week because we've been on the air with new shows each night."
New drama "Medium," starring Patricia Arquette, enjoyed an impressive 18-49 debut Monday, nearly tying an original episode of its powerful 10 p.m. competitor, "CSI: Miami," and doubling the demo average for the time slot. On Tuesday, new sitcom "Committed" found a decent audience as a lead-in to the "Dateline NBC" interview with Amber Frey, which provided the newsmagazine its biggest audience in three years.
A third new series, "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search," got stomped by ABC's "Lost" at 8 p.m. Wednesday, but the unscripted hour still managed to improve the time slot by 27% in 18-49. More surprising was the victory of "Law & Order," which proves less vulnerable to the two-hour premiere of "Alias" than "CSI: NY."
True to the title of its weight-loss reality series, NBC was looking like "The Biggest Loser" heading into the midseason, shedding more ratings tonnage than its Big Four network rivals in a demographic it traditionally dominates.
The network lost 10% of its 18-49 viewers from Sept. 20 through Dec. 19 compared with the same period last year. Fox was down 8% by the same measure — and that's even with the assist from baseball's highly rated League Championship Series and World Series games in October. ABC and CBS were up 6% and 11%, respectively, in the key demo.
Despite high hopes that a massive marketing blitz throughout NBC's Summer Olympics coverage would raise awareness for new series, dramas "LAX" and "Hawaii" were canceled, and the animated comedy "Father of the Pride" is on hiatus.
No signs of panic are evident yet from NBC programing chief Kevin Reilly and NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker, who described the network's November sweep performance as "good but not great." Metcalf asserts that the network actually is performing at estimated levels; it was the strength of the competition that got underestimated.
"Our current position is where we expected to be," he said. "They are above where we expected to be."
The damage is most evident on Thursday, where CBS has overtaken NBC on the night for the first time in 20 years. The original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" gave no quarter to what was to be NBC's most potent asset, "The Apprentice 2," which dropped 20% from the previous season's tally at 9 p.m.
Not helping "Apprentice" was the 8-9 p.m. lead-in pair of "Joey" and "Will & Grace." While few expected the "Friends" spinoff to match its predecessor, "Joey" has seen its audience drop quickly since making a solid debut, down 36% after 11 episodes. "Will" has fallen almost as far, down 28% since the start of the season. "ER" has held its lead over CBS' "Without a Trace" in the adults 18-49 demo, but the detective drama continues to gain share and regularly beats "ER" in viewers.
But despite serious wear and tear, NBC still is seeing strength from at least one series every night of the week. Although "Fear Factor" has faltered Monday at 8 p.m., "Las Vegas" has entered its sophomore season in fine form at 9 p.m.
"Law & Order: SVU" is still a powerhouse in the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot. But the rest of the night has been a hard slog that isn't likely to improve when Fox brings "American Idol" back at 8 p.m. as of Jan. 18. Still, NBC has seen fit to premiere its long-delayed Mark Burnett project "The Contender" at that hour — the same slot where its accused copycat, Fox's "The Next Great Champ," withered away early this season.
Tuesday 9-10 p.m. also is a mess: No series has fallen further on NBC than "Scrubs," which is down 45% from last year. The sitcom will slide back a half-hour into the 9 p.m. slot once inhabited by "Pride," which may not help "Committed."
After a wobbly 2003-04 season, "The West Wing" has emerged from a creative overhaul to respectable results — but its numbers also are likely to take a hit next month when "Idol" returns.
Perhaps primetime's most underappreciated success story this season belongs to NBC on Friday, where new 10 p.m. entry "Medical Investigation" has found traction on a night that has been toxic to its competitors — even CBS, which failed to launch "dr. vegas" in the same slot.
And while ABC has electrified Sunday with "Desperate Housewives," NBC has managed to stay competitive at 10 p.m. with "Crossing Jordan," which has held up well against "Boston Legal" episodes flush with "Housewives" viewers.
But NBC's biggest winner is "Loser," which managed to steal 18-49ers away from CBS' "NCIS" in a Tuesday 8-9 p.m. time slot that has not been kind to the network.
True to its upfront promise that it would program year-round, there still are plenty of new series that haven't yet been scheduled.
Apocalypse-themed miniseries "Revelations" is expected to spell "Wing" on Wednesdays at some point this season. David E. Kelley's first reality series, "The Law Firm," might end up on the same night once "Illustrated" ends its run.
If "Medium" doesn't work out Mondays at 10 p.m., that's probably the place where the fourth iteration of "Law & Order," subtitled "Trial by Jury" will end up. But the network has plenty of reality sitting on the bench, including projects with rocker Tommy Lee, socialite Kathy Hilton and another season of "Average Joe." On the comedy side, the American adaptation of the BBC hit "The Office" is ready, too.
Posted by Jo at January 7, 2005 07:21 PM